The Bureau of Assessment and Accountability is responsible for the development, administration, scoring and reporting of the state's assessment system, which includes the PSSA, PASA, and Keystone Exams along with the federal and state accountability systems under Pennsylvania's Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Flexibility Waiver.

The Bureau provides guidance to schools and districts on assessment and accountability programs. It evaluates district, school and student progress and reports school performance for compliance with the ESEA Flexibility Waiver. Other functions include the development of assessment anchors to better align curricula, instruction and assessment practices throughout the state; coordination of test development, administration, and reporting; and, providing technical assistance for statewide and local assessment systems.

Beginning in 2013, Local Education Agencies (LEA) will be held accountable under the ESEA flexibility provision that allows for a departure from the "Adequate Yearly Progress" (AYP) nomenclature, which identified schools in categories ranging from Making AYP to Corrective Action. In accordance with the Waiver, Pennsylvania will use a four specific Annual Measureable Objectives (AMO) as the Required Federal Reporting Measures (RFRM): Participation Rate, Graduation or Attendance Rate, Closing the Achievement Gap: All Students, and Closing the Achievement Gap: Historically Underperforming Students. Federal accountability will report differentiated recognition status for Title I schools that may be designated as Reward: High Achievement, Reward: High Progress, Focus, or Priority based on the AMOs and other federal requirements associated with each designation.

Although not all Title I schools will be associated with one of these designations, all Title I schools will have access to and will receive support in implementing the interventions best suited to the needs identified through their AMO data and the School Perofrmance Profile as related to the educator evaluation process. For more information about these designations and the Required Federal Reporting Measures, please visit the Required Federal Reporting Measures website, http://www.eseafedreport.com (This link will be available in the future).

Under the Waiver, the School Performance Profile (SPP) will report performance for all schools in Pennsylvania using multiple indicators of academic growth and achievement, including the four specific AMOs and educator effectiveness. For more information about SPP, please visit the School Performance Profile website, http://paschoolperformance.org.

Attribution Map

The following charts describe who is responsible for ensuring student participation in the state assessment, who is responsible for ordering test materials and administrating the test, and how PSSA scores and participation will be attributed for accountability purposes.

District / Charter School Appeal Form School Appeal Form Full-Time CTC/AVTS Appeal Form to Remove Home-Schooled Students from AYP Calculation.

If you are a district, please do not submit an appeal for the district on a "School" Appeal Form. Similarly, do not submit an appeal for a school on a "District" Appeal Form. Appeals that are submitted on the wrong form cannot be reviewed. If you file an appeal for more than one school in a district, you must use a separate form for each school. Appeals postmarked after August 7, 2012 cannot be accepted. Please submit appeals as a packet which includes a Cover Page, Routing Page, all applicable appeal forms, and all supporting documentation. Do not submit pages separately.Appeals Forms: